Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

Ricky Gervais says that if he was the head writer of the show, this would be the opening monologue: (from www.rickygervais.com)

Oh, and good luck to James Franco and Anne Hathaway at The Oscars on Sunday. I know how nervous they must be right now.

They will do an absolutely fantastic job and don't need my help, but I've written a little opening in case they have a few minutes to fill.

(Drum roll)

V.O.Ladies and Gentlemen.Please welcome your hosts for this evening...James Franco and Anne Hathaway

(Music and applause)(James and Anne walk out looking absolutely perfect)

JFHello and welcome to The 83rd Academy Awards,Live from Los Angeles.

AHThat's foreign for City of Angels.And this room is certainly filled will those angels.

(Applause)

JFThank you. I'm James Franco.

AH...and I'm Anne Hathaway.

JFYou probably know me from 127 Hours where I play a man trapped in an enclosed space who decides he would rather cut his own arm off than stay where he was. Now that sounds "way out" but wait till half way through this fucking ceremony and you'll start to identify with him.

AHAnd I'm the new Catwoman. The first white woman to play that role since Michelle Pfeiffer. I want it to be an inspiration to all white people everywhere. Your dreams can come true in Hollywood too.

JFIt's a daunting task hosting The Oscars but we're not alone. Presenting awards tonight will be a string of Hollywood legends and some other actors who have a film out in March or April.

JFUsually they hire comedians to host The Oscars, but tonight, instead, you get us!

AHNo comedians tonight. And do you know why? Because comics are ugly.

JFEspecially that rude obnoxious one who played the Steve Carell part in the English remake of The Office.

Thank you.No rudeness tonight.It's going to be a night of the most privileged people in the world being told how brilliant they are and thanking God for loving them more than ugly poor foreigners.

(Applause)

That's not to say that we don't care. No, apart from all the great movies we made this year we continued our life-saving philanthropy. Mega stars like Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and Ben Stiller brought light to third world poverty and famine and shocked the world with visions of children so hungry they'd been living off dead beetles all their lives.

AHYeah and Yoko Ono said. "What's wrong with that?"

(Laughter)

JFOh Anne you are naughty. In a respectful, wholesome way.

(Nodding and smiling)

That Ricky Gervais should do more for charity.

(Murmurs of agreement)

Ricky Gervais is now worth $80,000,000. The obnoxious Brit confirmed the figure, adding,"Yes and my dentist hasn't seen a penny."

AHYeah, why doesn't he get his teeth straightened and bleached like everyone else in Hollywood?

JFIt's a good question Anne. For the same reason he doesn't have botox or suck up to important producers - there's something wrong with him.

Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As preparations for next Sunday's Academy Awards move into high gear, the show's producers have booted a number of familiar elements.

Gone will be the movie montages -- like last year's salute to horror movies -- that often contribute to the broadcast's unwieldy running time. While there will be film clips from the ten best picture nominees and brief filmed introductions to different segments of the show, "Within the body of the show, we are not doing any film montage sequences," said Bruce Cohen, who will produce with Don Mischer.

Gone too will be the relatively new tradition, established just two years ago, of using five presenters to offer tribute testimonials about each of the best actor and actress nominees. "We're not going to do that this year," Cohen told the Hollywood Reporter. "What we did love about it was that it was a moment where each of the nominees really gets their due. (But) we found a version of that, without using the five people on stage, from the 1970 Oscars, and we stole it."

The producers also have enlisted the nominees' mothers to participate in promotion and pre-show activities, and some of them will be in the audience for the telecast.

This year's producing team is restoring individual performances of the four nominated songs, which were eliminated last year. Producers were upset that Cher, a major audience draw, was not nominated for her Burlesque ballad, "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me."

"We were surprised, and we were disappointed," Cohen says when of the song, which won its composer Diane Warren a Golden Globe but failed to earn an Academy nomination.

They have lined up most of the other names associated with the songs that were nominated, though: Oscar perennial Randy Newman will perform his "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3"; Mandy Moore and Zachary Levy, who sang the duet "I See The Light" on the "Tangled" soundtrack will reteam with composer Alan Menken; and Gwyneth Paltrow, who sings "Coming Home" in "Country Strong" will reprise that tune on the broadcast.

Because English pop singer Dido, who was nominated along with Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman for the song "If I Rise," from "127 Hours" was not available, the producers have drafted Florence Welch from Grammy-nominated act Florence + the Machine to appear with Rahman.

"We feel we really lucked out, and this is a good year to bring the best song performances back," Cohen says.

“‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” - Voltaire

Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

I'm grateful the producers are going to try something different, even if there is a good chance it will flop. The hosts are easy on the eyes but neither makes me think they will do anything interesting. The idea of a "virtual reality" and an "animated set" at least gets my curiosity going.

The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes

Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

Big Magilla wrote:Since they've invited Celine Dion to groan through the In Memoriam segment I guess they won't be using John Barry's music to take us through it.

Theoretically, she could sing one of the many many songs Barry wrote or co-wrote, though it's hard to think of any that are both well-known enough for the telecast and appropriate for an "In Memoriam". ("We Have All The Time In The World" doesn't quite cut it in the latter category).

Reza wrote:The hosts' job, he says, will be "to take the audience on this journey of a show that will hopefully start in one place, and if it all goes according to plan, it will take you back to where we started at the end."

Huh? :O

"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell